Time Inc. 'restructuring' begins: 500 axed

1/30/13 11:32 AM EST

Time Inc. has started its long-anticipated "restructuring" of staff and will eliminate an estimated 500 jobs today, or roughly 6 percent of its workforce.

"Time Inc. is undertaking a companywide restructuring," Time Magazine managing editor Rick Stengel wrote in a memo to staff today. "As part of this cost-savings initiative, we need to make some cuts in our editorial staff."

The cuts, first reported by The Wall Street Journal, will take place across Time Inc. Time Magazine is asking only six staffers to take voluntary buyouts, and will go to "involuntary layoffs" if it cannot secure those by Feb. 13.